CCAMLR Toothfish FisherySouth Georgia (UK) / Kerguelen &

Crozet (FR)

Summary of Data Collection

• General setting• Technical characteristics • Biological characteristics• Socio-economic characteristics • Management • Enforcement

General Setting

• Species - Fishery for a single species, Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), a large demersal, long-lived fish with bycatch species (macroruids and skates and rays)

• Gear South Georgia - Longline only

Kerguelen / Crozet - Trawl 1984/1985 – 2000/2001 Longline since - 1991/92

• Description of the Fishery – Wide distribution, number of discrete stocks around Antarctica. Most stocks managed through combination of CCAMLR and coastal state sovereignty. South Georgia and is a well defined discrete fishery.

General Setting• Sovereignty

• The South Georgia fishery occurs within both CCAMLR Subarea 48.3 and the South Georgia Maritime Zone (GSGSSI) and is confined to a depth band between 500m and 2000m. Within subarea 48.3 nearly all of the fishery falls within the SGMZ. Any management measures implemented by GSGSSI are above and beyond those implemented by CCAMLR.

• The European Union has an exclusive competency regarding fishing in high seas, and in these areas, France usually acts in this European framework. But according to article 56 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a coastal State has sovereign rights and legal competence in its EEZ. As Crozet and Kerguelen islands constitute an overseas French territory, France exercises its sovereignty on these. This is also the reason why France also benefits from a specific status within the CCAMLR Convention. France is a member of the Convention, but its EEZ, by derogation to the Antarctic Treaty France is part of, has the authority to manage the resources, including fishing activities, in its EEZ: France has the right to reject CCAMLR decisions and to edict its own regulations independently of the CCAMLR ones.

1991

Apr 1996

Dec 1996

Jan 2002

Technical Characteristics 1/2

• Effort - number of vessels, days, hooks obtained from detailed CCAMLR logbook data and verified through 100% observer programme.

• Fleet - Well known and stable fleet of vessels fishing for toothfish at South Georgia and Kerguelen. Approximately 90% of the vessels / companies at South Georgia have been fishing in this fishery for the last 10 years. Kerguelen benefits from limiting the fishery to only French flagged vessels

Technical Characteristics 2/2

Number of Hooks

0

5000000

10000000

15000000

20000000

25000000

30000000

Season

Eff

ort

Number of Vessels (CCAMLR Subarea 48.3)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Biological Characteristics 1/3

• CCAMLR performs stock assessments for the toothfish stock in subarea 48.3. CASAL based.

• CCAMLR take IUU catches into account in the stock assessments for all areas.

• CCAMLR sets quotas for each subarea and GSGSSI allocates individual vessel quotas within the overall CCAMLR quota.

Biological Characteristics 2/3

0.00

2000.00

4000.00

6000.00

8000.00

10000.00

12000.00

14000.00

16000.00

18000.00

20000.00

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

Year

Cat

ch (

t)

48 58 88

Biological Characteristics 3/3

• Good time series of CPUE (100% from logbooks and verified by observers since 1995 for SG)

• Good biological data, length frequency, sex, maturity, age data (>500,000 fish for SG)

Socio-Economic Characteristics 1/3

• Profitability – Some data though not comprehensive for the fishery. Difficulties lie in confidentiality issues as only small number of vessels in the fishery (10 for South Georgia and 8 for Kerguelen in 2007) and in the seasonality of the fishery. Vessels have different options in the “off-season”. A snapshot based on one company with three vessels revealed a profit of about 10% for a year’s operations around the southern ocean.

• Employment – Vessel crew numbers reported as part of the vessel registration process and constant for most vessels in the longline fleet.

Socio-Economic Characteristics 2/3

• Landings Value / Price – High value fish. Price for toothfish has increased over the last few years as IUU fishing diminished. Also for South Georgia there exits a possible premium due to Marine Stewardship Council certification of the fishery.

• Price currently at approximately €9.7/kg (landing price), consumer price in UK (€45/kg).

Socio-Economic Characteristic 3/3

• Fine level – Latest arrest of the Elqui in 2005. £250,000 (€331,862).

• Court Costs – Latest prosecution £60,000 (€79,485).

• Confiscation – This arrest resulted in the confiscation of the vessel due to non-payment of fines (later sunk as an artificial reef in the Falkland Islands). If fines are not-paid vessel and gear can be confiscated. Illegal catch always confiscated.

Management System 1/4

Description and evolution of the management approach:• GSGSSI created the South Georgia Maritime Zone in

1993 following the gazetting Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Ordinance (1993) that set up the framework for licensing of vessels to fish within South Georgia waters.

Description and evolution of the main management objective(s) followed:

• Management approach is conservation centric with utilisation of the resources within precautionary limits set by CCAMLR. Revenue from the licensing of the fisheries is used in fisheries management and fisheries protection.

Management System 2/4

• Main objective followed• Quotas are set to maintain the target stock (and

bycatch stocks) at levels above a specified limit. In the case of the toothfish fishery in CCAMLR subarea 48.3 this is 0.5 B0 with a projected 10% risk of SSB going below 0.2 SSB0.

• Organisation of the decision-making process• Quota decisions are discussed annually in October at

the CCCAMLR Working Group on Fish Stock Assessments (WG-FSA), quota limits are approved by the Scientific Committee and the Commission.

• GSGSSI allocates the quota in February or March of the following year to individual vessels for the season May – August.

Management System 3/4

Variable of control used• Combination of catch quotas and effort control.

• Catch quota - Total catch quota is set annually by CCAMLR for subarea 48.3 and smaller management areas in recent years. Catch quotas are also set on major bycatch fisheries (macrourids and skates / rays).

• Effort limited - GSGSSI allocates individual vessel quotas within this overall limit to a set number of vessels for a defined season (May – August) at a level that will take the quota within the season. French EEZ also has a similar limit on the number of vessels.

Management System 4/4

• Stakeholders• Coastal States with toothfish fisheries• United Kingdom (GSGSSI), France, Australia, South

Africa • Fishing Nations• France, Chile, United Kingdom, South Korea, South

Africa, Spain, Uruguay, Japan• Markets• EU, Japan, United States

Enforcement System 1/7

• VMS – All vessels in the regulated fishery inside CCAMLR waters are tracked by VMS. Vessels are tracked by their flag state and also either directly to a centralised Commission VMS. VMS data available to patrol vessels on active patrol.

• At-Sea Patrols – All the main coastal states where toothfish fisheries appear have a surveillance presence. Other CCAMLR members can perform CCAMLR inspections on other Member vessels operating in CCAMLR waters.

• In the French austral waters the patrolling is based on the activity of one patrol boat from the Affaires Maritimes, and three patrol boats from the Marine Nationale. These operational means are under the responsibility of the DRDAM (Direction Régionale et Départementale des Affaires Maritimes) with additional French and Australian co-operation on patrols. South Georgia has a full time patrol vessel, the Pharos plus additional ad hoc RN patrols.

Enforcement System 2/7

• SAR – Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) used in Kerguelen and Crozet to identify illegal fishing vessels.

• Port State Control –The South Georgia fishery, which is certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, monitors 100% of all landings from the fishery weighing all the catch to verify the weight of catch reported to the Commission.

• Catch Documentation Scheme - All imports and exports of toothfish into CCAMLR member states should be associated with a catch document which allows the catch to be traced.

Enforcement System 3/7

• Observer Programme – The CCAMLR scientific observer programme has 100% coverage on the longline fisheries (excluding the French and South African EEZs which are exempt). CCAMLR Scientific Observers monitor every setting and hauling operation, monitor compliance, collect biological data from target and bycatch species and

• Logbooks – The CCAMLR system of logbooks provides for some of the most accurate and in depth recording of fisheries information. Haul by haul logbooks

Enforcement System 4/7

• Evolution of System of Control

Enforcement System 5/7

0

500000

1000000

1500000

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2500000

3000000

3500000

4000000

4500000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Year

Co

st (

€)

Patrol Vessel Cost (€) Port Inspection Cost (€) Observer Cost (€)

Enforcemnet System 6/7

Enforcement System 7/7

• Evolution of Sanctions - GSGSSI Legislation.• Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Ordinance 1993.• Maximum fine level £100,000 per offence.• Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Ordinance 2000.• Maximum fine level £500,000 per offence, minor infringements

(£50,000 - £100,000)

• Evolution of Sanctions - French austral waters • (Article 4 of the Law 66-400, modified by Law 2006-1772) • Fines up to €300,000 in case of infringement (no declaration of

catches, fishing without licence in zones or in time periods where or when it is prohibited to fish). In the case of these two last infringements, the fine may be augmented by €75,000 beyond 2 tons of illegal catches.

Data – Problems and Solutions

• Minor problems in obtaining data.• Short management chain • Few actors in the system• Data rich fisheries

• The major source of problems we have found are due to the limited response to requests for socio-economic data. Companies do not wish to release commercially sensitive information and there is no requirement to report or release this information under current data collection regulations.